No Longer Children
by GryffindorCriss
Summary: Sequel to "The HummelAndersons". Kurt and Blaine have to deal with the undeniable fact that their children are no longer...well, children. It's no picnic for their children either - and the two men cannot do anything about it.
1. Back to the Start

**Welcome to "No Longer Children"! Now, while I suggest reading The Hummel-Andersons first since that's got all the start of the different storylines in them, I suppose you're all intelligent enough to catch on quickly.**

**There's a page on my website I set up to show the characters of The Hummel-Andersons and there is now one for "No Longer Children" - so be sure to check it out!**

**Chapter**** 1**

At that moment, Kurt Hummel-Anderson was pacing the kitchen and rattling off comments of some kind to himself so quickly that neither of his children could understand - even his husband was quite confused, watching with his head tilted rather like a puppy.

"-So you've packed your lunch, right?" Kurt questioned his daughter urgently.

Meggie nodded silently.

"Good," Kurt breathed before remembering something. "Oh no. Did you-"

"Yes, Dad, I packed all of my equipment," The teenage girl interrupted for what felt like the fifteenth time.

The countertenor bit his lip softly. "Okay...stand up. I need to see how you look."

"Dad!" Meggie groaned, shooting him an icy glare. "I'm nearly fifteen! I can dress myself, you know!"

Kurt folded his arms and sent her a look. "Meggie. Stand up please."

Knowing she had no choice, she did so and stepped away from the breakfast table so that he could survey her appearance properly. "Dad, this is a little drastic, don't you think?"

"Hmm... Okay, fine, your clothes are alright," Kurt mumbled, almost to himself, before stepping forwards to get a better look at her hair. "It's straightened, so I suppose that's not too bad. It could probably use a brush or something just to get out any hard-to-find tangles."

Blaine looked between his daughter and husband, grinning amusedly to himself. Liam also smirked, leaning in closer to the tenor so that they could mutter between themselves. "We're never gonna let them forget this, are we?"

"Nope," Blaine replied in agreement. "Definitely not. Still...if your Dad doesn't stop, she'll never even make it to school..." He stood up and stepped forwards, putting his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Kurt, honey," He laughed affectionately, separating him from their daughter. "I get that you're worried, but I think Meggie's got this under control."

Kurt looked at him, bottom lip wobbling slightly. "I know," He sighed, looking quite saddened. "But it's just...she's so grown up and everything, and I just... I want to make sure that everything's going to be okay."

"It will be," Blaine assured him, shaking his head and smiling. "Kurt, it's only High School - what's the worst that can happen?"

The taller man sent his husband a look. "You know what could happen, thank you very much."

"Yes, but why depress ourselves with that kind of talk?" The younger man asked rhetorically, squeezing his husband's shoulders. "Look, I'm nervous too, but we've to just step back now and start letting her do her own thing."

Kurt sighed again, giving in. "Alright fine. _But_-" He sent his husband a mischievous look. "We can still step in sometimes, right?"

Blaine laughed. "Kurt, it wouldn't be the same if we didn't step in."

* * *

The halls of New York High were full within minutes that Monday morning; some students who had been attending in years prior grumbled about having to come back while others (particularly seniors) stated that they were going to have the "best year ever". Freshman were also in the halls, unsurely walking around and looking for their home rooms on their very first day - to them, this was not easy at all.

Mr Matthew Garretts - nicknamed "Garretts" by teachers and students alike - smiled as he surveyed the corridors that morning; drinking his usual cup of coffee, he stood with his back against a wall and sent the students passing by friendly smiles. "Hey!" He greeted, sending a group of freshman students an encouraging smile.

"Already trying to butter up the new students?"

Garretts turned to face his fellow teacher and smiled sheepishly. "What? They're nervous, you know: it doesn't hurt."

The other man just rolled his eyes at him. Mr Joseph Ryans - nicknamed similarly as "Ryans" - was slightly older than Garretts was, but was no less kind than his co-worker was. "So, do you have any freshman classes today?"

"Nope," Garretts replied cheerfully. "But I have a couple tomorrow. Why? How about you?"

"First and last," Ryans responded dryly, looking quite unhopeful. "I just hope that they're not like last year's freshman class - now _they _had no respect for literature or the English language whatsoever...and about half of them didn't know how to use grammar properly."

The taller man laughed. "Yeah, well, if it helps a lot of students don't take Drama all too seriously either; they see it as a chance to just hang out with their friends."

The bell rung and both men sighed to themselves. "I have a freshman class for homeroom," The older man said grudgingly, starting to walk away. "I'll see you at lunch."

* * *

Meggie Hummel-Anderson was fourteen - nearly fifteen, mind you - and _nervous._ Why? Well, because she was starting High School that morning. Even just sitting in homeroom was making her feel edgy, for God's sake. But it wasn't just that - oh, no... She had a gig that evening as well.

A _singing_ gig.

Blaine had managed to organise it for her; since he had been working as an evening entertainer for one of the most popular restaurants in New York for the past few years, he was now on good enough terms with the manager to request that his daughter get a chance to perform. The only available slot was at dinner time (when it would be crowded, of course) and on the very day that she started a new chapter of her life.

Honestly? She wasn't having all that great a day.

Of course, she hadn't told her friends about this: they would have wanted to come and see her, which would have been nothing short of embarrassing and awkward. Hell, it was bad enough that her dads and brother were going to be there...and then they'd invited her Grandpa Jamie and Grandma Rosie too. It just kept getting worse.

"Oh, lighten up," She heard her friend, Thomas, chuckle as he leant back in his chair next to her. "High School's gonna be okay."

Meggie shot him a dark look. "Is that why you were up until midnight texting me about how much you didn't want to come in? Or maybe why you've been self-har-"

"There's no need to say it how loud!" Thomas snapped, sitting forwards in his chair properly and looking around nervously to see if anyone had overheard. "God, Meggie...I don't want to be labelled as an 'emo' or anything, especially not on the first day!"

The teenage girl just smiled dryly. "Then stop doing it."

At that moment, another girl dropped into the seat in front of them; tall with dark hair and high cheekbones was Pepper Pendleton, one of their best friends. "Hey guys!" She greeted brightly. "So? What did you guys do over the Summer?"

"We just hung out," Meggie answered, shrugging non-chalantly. "It wasn't anything too interesting. How about you?"

"I just helped my Dad out in the shop he works at now," Pepper replied. "I feel bad sometimes, you know, him working all of the time just to pay for all of the things I need...so I decided it'd be nice to help him out a little." She gave them both a large smile before looking at Meggie specifically. "So, I've been thinking all through the Summer that once we got here then there's be loads of clubs for us to join together - what do you say?"

Meggie raised an eyebrow. "It depends. What clubs are we talking about?"

"We're both great at dancing," The taller girl continued enthusiastically. "So...how about we try out for cheerleading or something?"

Thomas burst out laughing, ducking underneath the table to hide his sniggers and snorts from the girls. They both sent him scathing looks as he tried to calm himself down. "S-Sorry...I was just imagining you two in cheerleading u-u-uniforms!"

"Thanks," Meggie muttered, suddenly feeling really awful. "Pepper, I don't really think I'd be all that good at cheerleading-"

"But why not?" Pepper demanded to know, looking rather put out. "You're a great dancer, and that'll help you do well on the cheer squad...and don't listen to that silly little boy-" At this she sent their male friend a glare. "You wouldn't look ridiculous in a uniform either - in fact, they're quite slimming."

The shorter girl opened her mouth to answer - with what, she didn't even know - but then a teacher walked in and the classroom immediately fell silent.

"Good morning!" The man - tall with greying blonde hair - greeted, eyes bright behind his glasses. "So, my name is Mr Ryans-" He picked up a marker pen and wrote it on the board before continuing. "And you will address me as such when I am talking to you...but you may call me _Ryans_ if you want to behind my back."

Meggie grinned, already liking him.

"So, since we have an extended homeroom session this morning to get us all settled back into school," Mr Ryans said, throwing the board pen down and clapping his hands together. "I think we should all focus on getting to know each other. So, if you will, I'd like you all to stand up and stand against the walls...that's right, like that...and in a circle shape so that we can all see each other."

There was a series of loud scraping noises as the students all stood up and scrambled to stand next to their friends; Meggie managed to squeeze herself in between Thomas and Pepper, waiting to see what this teacher was planning next.

"Very good!" The teacher announced, standing in the middle of the formation and grinning around at everyone. "So, I will point to someone at random, and you will each tell us all your name and one interesting fact about yourself. We will go around in a clockwise direction, okay?"

"Oh, how original," A blonde girl remarked sarcastically from across the room, causing her friends to giggle loudly.

The teacher closed his eyes and spun around to point at someone randomly; he ended up pointing at the blonde girl, clearly on purpose, and waited for her to start.

The blonde, while surprised, straightened up and shook her hair over her shoulder in a rather graceful way. "My name is Tammy, and I have won nine cheerleading competitions in a row."

Something told Meggie that she wasn't very nice - and that she'd definitely try out for the cheerleading squad.

They went around the circle, some people obviously making up facts on the spot to sound interesting while others just muttered that they had a pet or a sibling; a few people managed to come up with interesting points that made the teacher nod in approval and some of the students make impressed noises.

When it was Pepper's turn, she smiled around at everyone kindly. "Hi! My name's Pepper and I like poetry."

"Oh really?" Mr Ryans questioned, looking somewhat impressed. "Do you read a lot then, Pepper?"

Pepper went bright red when her friends looked at her curiously, clearly not expecting it to go further than that. "Yeah," She admitted, nodding truthfully. "My dad has a lot of poetry books at home, so I read those a lot."

"Do you have a favourite one?" Mr Ryans asked, smiling at her encouragingly. "And don't worry: I'm not expecting you to recite a whole poem for me right now."

The tall girl gave another nervous nod. "Yes. It's called "Woman Work" but I can't remember who wrote it."

"That's very interesting," Mr Ryans agreed, giving her a small smile to let her know she had done well. "And the poet is a woman named Maya Angelou, for anyone wondering. Anyway, let's carry on."

And now it was Meggie's turn.

"Hello," She greeted anxiously, looking around at everyone. "I-I'm Meggie and I...I like to dance."

The blonde - Tammy - burst out laughing for some reason, her friends joining in. The teacher turned around, giving her a look to silence her before his attention returned to Meggie. "Dancing, huh? I see. What kind of dancing?"

"A-All kinds, really," She continued, somewhat persuaded to keep going with the kindness in his voice. "I do it whenever I can; I go to several classes and stuff, so..."

"Fantastic," Mr Ryans told her, giving her a look in the hopes it would make her less nervous. "I hope that you continue doing that, Meggie, because dancing is one of the most amazing things out there."

Her mouth fell open, quite astounded. There were some mutterings from around the room, most of them mentioning something about her being a "teacher's pet" and she went bright red in the face.

"And what about you, young man?" The teacher continued, turning to Thomas now. "What is your name?"

"Thomas," The teenage boy said, looking quite uncomfortable; it was clear he didn't want to share anything about himself in the fear of rejection. "And...I...uhm..."

"He likes Harry Potter," Meggie interjected, unable to help it.

He sent her a thankful look. "Yeah, I like Harry Potter: my favourite book is the last one with the big battle and all that."

"Uh-huh," The teacher said, quite bemused by this. "Alright then. Let's carry on...what about you?"

"My name is Brodie," A familiar voice piped up, and Meggie craned her neck to look to see who it was. "And I used to live in London in England."

Brodie. Meggie felt her heart thump at the sight of her third best friend: she hated to admit it, but she had a rather obvious crush on him...well, apparently not all that obvious since he didn't actually know it himself.

"London?" Mr Ryans asked, looking quite surprised. "What a coincidence - I was brought up in England until I was fifteen and my parents moved out here for my father's job."

Brodie sent the teacher an easy smile. "Cool. I kind of miss England, I guess, but New York is great too. I've met some really great people here." Thomas, Meggie and Pepper all smiled around at each other, honoured by this comment: Brodie sent the three of them a cheeky smile, cheeks going pink.

As stressful as this whole High School thing was, at least they still had each other.

**So, this is the first chapter. No, the won't all be this short but I find that nothing is harder than establishing a story, so...hopefully the chapters will become longer and longer. **

**Anyway, hello again guys! :) It feels kind of refreshing to write a few years into the future, when the kids are all grown up and their own people - they have lots to go through and they'll develop.**

**Alright, let me make this clear from the go: there WILL be a Glee Club. I mean, come on; Kurt and Blaine were both show choir champions, what kind of author would I be if their children didn't try to do the same? However, unlike GLEE, the story will not be focused all around the club trying to win competitions or anything like that - it's simply another plot alongside many others. **

**So, feel free to review guys!**


	2. Can't Fight The Moonlight

**Warnings for this chapter:**** swearing**

**Chapter**** 2**

Kurt had been studying his lines for an upcoming audition for an up and coming new show when he heard the front door open and slam shut. This could only mean one thing - his daughter was home from her first day of High School.

_Ah, screw the lines._

Kurt threw the script down and stood up to greet Meggie just as she walked into the Living Room, clutching her backpack strap in her hand and looking rather pale. "So?" He asked anxiously. "How was it?"

She gave a shrug. "Okay, I guess. My homeroom teacher is the same guy as my English teacher, and he's pretty cool; plus, I get to be in homeroom with Tom, Pepper and Brodie, so...it's not too bad."

"That's good," Kurt agreed, giving a slight nod as she walked past him to get to the kitchen. He followed after her, intent to find out more. "And what about the lessons? Did you like any of them?"

"Maths was just...Maths," Meggie stated, dumping her bag in a kitchen chair and heading to the fridge for a drink. "It's okay for me, I suppose, and I get by in it relatively well - it's just not all that interesting. English was pretty good too; we read a bit of this book by John Steinbeck and talked about it."

This was no surprise to the countertenor; Meggie had always been a creative person and enjoyed reading. "Well, at least everything's going well so far. And...And I suppose you haven't heard anything about a choir or anything-"

"Not yet," She muttered, taking a sip of water. "Dad, I'm not even sure if I _want_ to do choir: I-I get really nervous singing, like...I'm nervous for tonight at that restaurant, in case I'm awful and everyone hates me-"

Kurt held up his hand to silence her. "You won't be awful, Megs - trust me, with the two of us as trained singers, you weren't going to grow up tone deaf." Meggie didn't look so sure that he was telling the truth but didn't say anything to agree or disagree. "Anyway, we heard you sing the song during rehearsal yesterday and you were - are - amazing."

Meggie smiled wryly. "You have to say that. You're my dad."

"I don't have to say anything I don't want to," The brunette disagreed seriously. "For example, I'm not going to tell you that your hair looks perfect because at the minute it looks like a nest of some kind of animal."

The teenager gaped in surprise and shock. "But...I've just walked home! In the wind! And...And I have Papa's hair, for crying out loud! It's never tidy!"

"I'm kidding," Kurt chuckled affectionately, shaking his head. "Look, Meggie, you're going to be fantastic tonight. Don't worry because the nerves will just make you sound even worse." She sent him a look and he smiled knowingly. "Trust me, Megs: a live audience can practically _smell_ nervousness on performers - and they attack once they figure it out. Anyway," He continued in a casual voice. "Go upstairs and get ready."

Meggie just walked away, looking more worried than ever; his advice hadn't exactly helped, to say the least.

* * *

Thomas pulled at the collar of his shirt, extremely uncomfortable.

His mother scowled at him. "Thomas, don't fidget. You're nearly fifteen now, for goodness sake."

Even though he was a lot taller than she was now, he gave a sombre nod and did as she had told him. His mother had always been strict on him and his sister, expecting them to behave however she wanted them to, so there was no point in defying or arguing with her.

"Where are we even going for dinner?" His sister, May, asked from next to him at the back of the car.

"_New Delights_ or something," Mrs Jones sniffed, turning a corner and not looking at either of her children. "Of course, it's not exactly very new now - but it's still one of the most prestigious restaurants in New York."

Thomas internally groaned, slipping further down in his seat and folding his arms rather childishly. Dinner didn't sound all that fun at all - although his mother seemed convinced that because he'd just started High School it meant they had to go out and do something special. In all honestly, ordering a pizza and watching a movie would have been fine with him...but no. It was always his mother in charge.

After his mother had parked the car in the restaurant's car park, the three entered the building; when Thomas looked around, he couldn't help but feel just a little impressed with how well-decorated it was. He had to admit, it seemed like a really nice place...and, after all, his mother _was_ trying to be nice and treat him, so it would only be polite to enjoy it while it lasted.

The head waiter sat them at a table that had clearly been reserved in advance - it was close to a stage, he noticed, and he couldn't help but smile as he thought of Meggie prancing around and singing.

_That's just _so_ normal_, his brain muttered sarcastically and he shook it away.

He and Meggie had been friends since they were kids...okay, so they hadn't gotten off to the greatest start at first (he still felt guilty whenever he remembered the things he'd put her through) but now they were practically inseparable. Over the Summer, the two had taken to camping outside in her back yard in a tent; they'd built a small fire and toasted some marshmellows, and they had huddled together in the safety of the tent to watch movies on Meggie's laptop.

A memory suddenly flashed across his brain: one of the nights, they'd been watching an Adam Sandler film - something about a Wedding Singer - and she'd been cracking up laughing the entire time. He had seen her as she laughed, nose scrunched up in a cute way, hand pressed against her mouth to try and stifle her infectious laughter. Plus, if he remembered correctly, they'd been so close that he could practically smell her shampoo: while most girls used strawberry or something generic like that, he had thought that her hair smelt rather like apples.

"Thomas! Do you want to order yet?"

He snapped out of it at the sound of his sister's voice and realized that a waitress was now standing at their table, waiting to take his order. He flushed bright red. "Yeah...uhm... Could I maybe get the Cajun chicken with pasta? And a Diet Cola, please."

The waitress smiled and nodded before walking away. _Hmm...she's actually kind of pretty... Oh, fuck it! What the fuck is up with these hormones?!_

Thomas didn't have long to dwell on that thought because a second later a voice rang out from the speakers on the stage and he turned to see what was going on. A short man was standing there, grinning charismatically and speaking into a microphone stand.

"Good evening, everybody!" He greeted, and a few people whooped. Thomas squinted at him, trying to figure out why he was so familiar. "So, before I start off tonight's show, I thought that we'd have a kick-ass opening act to get you all ready."

The voice was familiar too...Oh, he wished he could remember...

"So, let's give a warm welcome to my daughter, Meggie Hummel-Anderson!"

Thomas spun around in his seat, eyes wide. No...it couldn't be...She would have told him if she was doing a show somewhere...

But it was her; Meggie came out onto the stage, dressed in a black long-sleeved dress and tights, and walked up to the microphone stand as music started. Thomas could only stare in awe as he watched her open her mouth and start to sing.

_Under a lovers' sky_  
_Gonna be with you_  
_And noone's gonna be around_  
_If you think that you won't fall_  
_Well just wait until_  
_Til the sun goes down_

He recognised this song...he and Meggie had heard it in a film they'd watched together, and he could remember pulling her off the couch and dancing around with her in a rather silly fashion. It had been to make her smile, he thought, since she'd been feeling rather down that week about her weight or something.

_Underneath the starlight - starlight_  
_There's a magical feeling - so right_  
_It'll steal your heart tonight_

Meggie, meanwhile, had been having the time of her life up on the stage; her nerves were starting to fade as people turned around to watch her, intrigued and somewhat surprised by her voice. She grinned, playing up to the attention, and took the microphone into her hand.

_You can try to resist_  
_Try to hide from my kiss_  
_But you know_  
_But you know that you can't fight the moonlight_  
_Deep in the dark_  
_You'll surrender your heart_  
_But you know_  
_But you know that you can't fight the moonlight_  
_No, you can't fight it_  
_It's gonna get to your heart_

As Meggie sung the last line, she spotted a familiar face from across the room: Thomas. For a moment she was surprised, even somewhat embarrassed that he was watching her sing now: she didn't sing a lot around him, nerves always getting the better of her.

But now...now she was _excited_.

She sent him a wink and started to step off the stage, moving through the audience as she continued the song.

_There's no escape from love_  
_Once a gentle breeze_  
_Weaves it's spell upon your heart_  
_No matter what you think_  
_It won't be too long_  
_Til your in my arms_

As she sung the last line of that verse, she wrapped her free arm around him, much to his surprise; he just looked up at her, mouth wide open and eyes dazed as if he didn't believe what he was seeing.

Thomas' mother and sister shot him a strange look as Meggie walked away and continued to sing: his mother looked rather disapproving whereas his sister looked both amused and confused.

As for him? He couldn't even think straight, eyes drawn to his friend.

_Underneath the starlight - starlight_  
_We'll be lost in the rhythm - so right_  
_Feel it steal your heart tonight_

_You can try to resist_  
_Try to hide from my kiss_  
_But you know_  
_But you know that you can't fight the moonlight_  
_Deep in the dark_  
_You'll surrender your heart_  
_But you know_  
_But you know that you can't fight the moonlight_  
_No you can't fight it_  
_No matter what you do_  
_The night is gonna get to you_

_Don't try then_  
_You're never gonna win_

_Underneath the starlight - starlight_  
_There's a magical feeling - so right_  
_It will steal your heart tonight_

On the last few lines, she ran back up to the stage and the audience started to clap even though she wasn't finished yet. Encouraged, she resumed belting out the song, heart beating hard and blood running through her veins like fire.

_You can try to resist_  
_Try to hide from my kiss_  
_But you know_  
_But you know that you can't fight the moonlight_  
_Deep in the dark_  
_You'll surrender your heart_  
_But you know_  
_But you know that you can't fight the moonlight_  
_No, you can't fight it_

_You can try to resist_  
_Try to hide from my kiss_  
_But you know_  
_Don't you know that you can't fight the moonlight_  
_Deep in the dark_  
_You'll surrender your heart_  
_But you know_  
_But you know that you can't fight the moonlight_  
_No, you can't fight it_  
_It's gonna get to your heart._

Meggie bowed; quite a few people in the audience stood up and gave her a standing ovation, clapping and whooping loudly. She went bright red in the face, quite pleased by this reaction, and replaced the microphone back on it's stand.

"Thomas?"

Thomas made a small noise, indicating to his sister that he was listening.

May looked between him and the singer on stage, still somewhat confused. "Do you know her?"

"Sort of."

He watched as Meggie's fathers - the short dark-haired one - sat down at a nearby piano and grinned around at everyone. He briefly registered his mother giving a disapproving, "What disgraceful behaviour!" and his sister smirking at him knowingly, clearly catching onto something.

_Hmm,_ He thought happily, sitting back in his seat and grinning to himself. _This dinner wasn't such a bad idea after all._

* * *

"Megs!"

Immediately her brother was hugging her, nearly taller than her now, and laughing. She smiled and squeezed him back affectionately. "Was I good then?"

"Good?" Liam repeated, drawing back and looking at her with wide eyes. "Meggie, you were...you were...wow! Although..." He sent her a sly smile. "Something tells me that going through the audience and wrapping your arm around that guy was an impromptu thing, right?"

Meggie flushed bright red. "He's...it was Thomas. We're friends."

"_Sure_," The younger one snorted, shaking his head. "Come on, Dad wants us to meet him in the dressing room back there; probably scared about all the fans swamping you, am I right?"

"Oh, shut up," She retorted good-naturedly, putting an arm around him as they walked to the Dressing Room down the hall.

**The song used was "Can't Fight The Moonlight" by LeAnn Rimes (it's from Coyote Ugly) and I do NOT own it.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed! And thanks for all the reviews! :O I'm shocked that I have six already...**


	3. Difficult

**Warnings for this chapter: language, bullying, mentions of violence**

**Chapter**** 3**

Within a week it was soon obvious how different High School was to Middle School; already cliques were being formed, labels being given and clubs being signed up for... It was clear that all of the students were desperate to belong somewhere, to not become alone and labelled undesirable for the next four years.

"Oh please, Meggie!" Pepper whined, dragging her friend towards the school notice board. "It's only a tryout - it's not for definite, you know. And there's no way I'm signing up on my own, not without you-"

"Look, Pepper, I don't want to make a fool of myself," Meggie interrupted tiredly, running a hand through her hair. "I just wouldn't fit on a cheerleading team: I'm not a cheerleader."

Pepper smiled slyly. "Not yet you're not."

"Not ever."

"Well, I'm still putting your name on there," The taller girl decided, much to Meggie's horror. "Just in case you decide to grow up and try out."

As she disappeared into the crowd, shaking her hips as she walked, Thomas appeared next to Meggie and looked at her in confusion. "What did I miss?" He asked cluelessly, looking at the spot where Pepper had disappeared.

"Nothing," Meggie muttered, already striding away. Thomas, alarmed, jogged to keep up with her. "She wants me to join some club but I don't want to...at least not yet, anyway."

"Ah ha!" Thomas said, smiling smugly to himself. "I was correct: you _do _want to join the Cheer team!"

The other teenager sent him a withering look. "If you want to keep your balls, then you'll never repeat that to anyone...look, I just don't want to do it this year, because of the stress and stuff-"

"And because you're still obsessing over the way you look," Her friend mumbled, shaking his head in confusion. "How many times do we have to tell you, Meggie: you look absolutely fine-"

"How many times do _we_ have to tell you about not doing you-know-what?!" Meggie snapped, spinning around. The two stared at each other for a moment, both of them surprised by her outburst. "Sorry," She murmured apologetically. "I'm just tired."

Thomas gave her a knowing smile. "Yeah, well, I would be too if I was singing at restaurants at night."

Meggie went pink but the grin on her face showed that she was pleased. "You know, you were never meant to find out about that."

"And why not?" He questioned, leaning against a locker and looking down at her charismatically. "You were great, Megs. And, I have to admit, I rather liked the little...hug you gave me halfway through it. Risky, but worth it."

She gave a small laugh, looking rather flustered. "I see... Was I really okay? I was so worried - I mean, what if I didn't do well and people started saying things. My Papa - and my Dad - they're both so good at singing and I was worried that I would...I don't know..."

"Let them down?" She gave a small nod, and Thomas shook his head. "Meggie, if what I saw last night was how you usually sing, then you should totally consider a career in it. You sounded great, the dress looked great, the audience loved it - loved _you_ - and I-"

He stopped, looking down at her eager face and feeling at a loss for words. Truthfully, he had been so stunned when she was singing and dancing around that he hadn't been able to pay attention to much else - she had that kind of presence about her when performing. Meggie attracted attention because of how good she was whenever she danced or performed in a school play. If he could have, he probably would have watched her all day.

_And I loved you._

Thomas didn't say that. "I loved the entire performance," He finished slowly.

Meggie beamed, flushing due to how pleased she was. "Really?! I didn't want you guys to see, in case I wasn't good or anything...but if I'm _really_ alright then maybe you guys could come and see me another time."

Thomas could only stare at her as she bounced on the spot excitedly: he didn't even know why he was staring at her, for God's sake, but he couldn't help it...

"Uhh... Hello?"

Both of them turned to see Pepper and Brodie standing in the corridor, eying the two up with matching smirks. Meggie went brighter red, smile fading as she realized they'd been caught. Thomas just hurriedly looked away from his best friend, choosing to eye the celling instead.

"Done flirting then?" Brodie asked, eyes darting to look at both of them.

"We weren't...what are you..."

Pepper gave a giggle, putting an arm around Brodie's shoulders. "I see. They won't admit it, no matter how much we point it out."

"You're being completely stupid," Meggie stated, quite perplexed. "We're just friends - you two should know that, considering we've been hanging out with you guys for years. Right, Tom?"

Thomas gave a nod, an abundance of unpleasant feelings suddenly flooding his stomach. He couldn't place what they were, but one thing was for certain - he _hated_ them. "Of course - it's so obvious."

"Come on," Meggie continued, starting to walk away. "We've got Drama class next - the one class I'm actually looking forward to."

As the three of them followed after her, Thomas started to become uncomfortably aware of what the feelings settling inside of him were.

"Just friends".

_Holy crap. Am I actually upset by that?!_

* * *

Although both Blaine and Kurt had initially been rather worried about how Meggie was fitting in at High School, they had also had another cause for concern.

Liam.

Their son, who was turning twelve the next month, was growing up - and growing up meant more hormones, more fights... Having been through it all with Meggie, and both being male themselves, they were somewhat more prepared for dealing with it when it came to Liam.

Unfortunately, they hadn't been quite prepared to receive a phonecall from the school one afternoon, requesting that they pick Liam up from school: apparently, their son had gotten into a fight...a bad one, judging by what they had been told.

"You broke a boy's nose?!" Kurt exclaimed in shock, staring at his son who just shrunk down in his seat. "How the hell did that happen?"

Liam went bright red, and the teacher just looked at him disapprovingly. "Neither of the boys in question will tell me; apparently the other boy 'was asking for it'."

"He was!" The brunette boy burst out, looking rather annoyed. "He told my friend that she looked like a troll! Technically, I was 'defending a lady's honour'."

Kurt eyed Blaine, causing the shorter man to just smile sheepishly - it was clear where Liam had picked up that phrase.

"You know, I'm just more concerned about him getting into fights," Kurt stated one evening after that as they were making dinner together. Dalton, the family dog, was lying in his bed across the kitchen, watching them with wide and bright brown eyes; by the grumbles coming from his stomach, it was clear that he was waiting for some of his own food. "I mean, think about how bad it was when he was six. He's got quite a temper on him."

"I still don't see how he got into trouble," Blaine said cluelessly, stirring some sauce in a pot. "As far as I know, those kids had what was coming to them."

Kurt sent the shorter man a small glare. "That is the attitude that is _causing_ him to pick fights with the other kids: heck, it's probably _you_ he gets the fighting ideas from."

"How on Earth-"

"The boxing, Blaine, the boxing," The taller man interrupted impatiently, shaking his head. "Look, I get that it helps _you_ let out some anger and frustration, honey, but the kids don't - and now Liam thinks it's okay to do it at school."

Blaine let out a low grumble. "Fine," He muttered, dropping his spoon and heading to the other side of the kitchen to chop some vegetables. "Anyway, you heard what he said in that office: he was merely protecting a friend. Technically, he was doing a good thing."

"I don't know," Kurt murmured lightly. "I honestly think that he's got a worse temper than Meggie does, which really says something."

"Kurt, it's only because he's a boy," His husband tried to say reassuringly to no avail. "Boys usually fight with their fists, and girls...well, they gossip and say mean things. I'm sure it's not because of how bad his temper is."

The taller man sighed and gave a nod. "I suppose that's true...I just hope that he'll stop being excluded from school soon, because he's missing out on his studies. I know that probably doesn't sound too bad to him now, but...but, dammit, Blaine! I don't want him to get a crappy job!"

"He won't," His husband said soothingly, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders and rubbing circles into them. "Seriously, with your looks and brainpower he'll rule the world."

Kurt just chuckled, shaking his head. "Honestly, Blaine, you are so _weird_ sometimes."

"It's all part of my charm," Blaine told him, sending him a flirtatious wink. "You love it, I can tell."

* * *

"So, the dads told me you got in another fight."

Liam didn't even look up from his comic book as his sister closed his bedroom door behind her. "The guy deserved it."

"Honestly," Meggie muttered disapprovingly, shaking her head at her younger brother. "You need to just grow up a little: you're not six anymore." She paused, eying some of the posters on his wall beside his bed. "What was it about this time?"

The brunette threw the comic book down on the bed and looked up at her incredously. "He called Annie a "troll", Meggie: a _troll!_ I was just giving that guy what he had coming to him."

"Well, from what _I_ have seen, Annie can take care of herself without you getting involved."

Liam had to hold back his grin: it was true. His friend was _not_ your typical girly-girl stereotype. "True...but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't stop it? Anyway," He continued, stopping Meggie before she could open her mouth and complain. "A little birdy with the name of a condiment told me that you're auditioning for the Cheer team."

"Oh, for God's sake," Meggie muttered irritably, sitting down on his bed and frowning. "I am _not_, she just _wants_ me to so that we'll be in a club together."

"Well, why not the Cheer team?" Liam pointed out, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, you're a pretty good dancer and I'm sure that you'd have no difficulty coming up with routines or memorizing them."

Meggie bit her lip. "It's...it's not that. It's just...you know, they all look..."

"Skinny and gorgeous?" Her brother deadpanned. "Megs..."

"I'm going for a shower," Meggie interrupted hurriedly, already darting up and trying to escape.

Liam watched after her and sighed to himself; he was getting kind of worried about her, if he was being honest...and being twelve, the last thing he should have had to deal with was worrying for older sisters.

_She's fine; it's just a stupid girl thing_.

* * *

Unfortunately for Meggie, she was very weak: she had a nagging need to impress her friends and family. So it was with a grumble that she allowed Pepper to walk her to the cheerleading try-outs on the Thursday after school that week: she was going to look completely ridiculous, but at least her best friend would stop nagging her.

"Oh, and there's Thomas!" Pepper pointed out brightly.

Meggie swivelled around in the gym and groaned. "Fuck! You did _not_ invite him and Brodie to watch!"

"Why not?" Pepper asked mischievously. "From what I've heard, Thomas would be _thrilled_ to see you do this."

The shorter girl halted. "Hold on..._thrilled?_ Why?"

Her friend just smiled innocently and gestured for her to come closer so that they could start the try-out.

At first, all of the people who had signed up had to memorize a routine taught to them and then perform it in groups: Meggie and Pepper passed this with no problem, and it was only then that Meggie felt quite confident...that maybe, just _maybe,_ she'd be able to do this.

From the stands, Brodie let out a low whistle. "Man, they can move."

"Yeah," Thomas agreed vacantly, eyes attatched to Meggie. "I...I guess they can."

The British boy smirked at his friend, eyes dancing cheekily. "Especially Meggie, am I right?" Thomas just blinked. "Dude, you've been staring at her this whole time - if I'm correct, then it's been at her arse too."

He flushed. "Well...I mean..."

"Don't worry," Brodie laughed. "I think most of the guys watching probably are too."

As Brodie turned to continue watching, Thomas couldn't help but feel kind of angry and jealous: had Brodie been staring at her arse too? Because, judging by recent years, if it had to come down to the two of them then it was obvious who Meggie would prefer going out with...

_Hold on, I don't fancy her. I'm here as friendly support._

By the end of half an hour, the final cheerleaders were picked: much to her surprise, Meggie found that both she and Pepper had made the team.

"Holy crap," She muttered, quite dazed. "I wasn't even...I was only..."

"We're cheerleaders!" Pepper exclaimed happily, and the two wrapped their arms around each other to hug in celebration.

_This is so amazing_, Meggie thought, suddenly much happier than she had been in a while. _I did it...I actually did it-_

"Oh dear. Now, I don't feel comfortable sharing a changing room with two lesbian team mates."

Both of the friends looked to see who had cut into their moment: Meggie immediately recognized it to be Tammy, the girl who had been rather full of herself on the first day in home room. _Of course_ she would have made the team...

"Wow," Tammy drawled, and some of the other girls beside her giggled as she raked her eyes up and down Meggie's body. "The team must really be desperate if they're letting fat girls join."

Pepper narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "Go suck a dick!"

"Oh, I didn't mean you," Tammy laughed in a high-voice, shaking her head. "I meant Little Miss Elephant Dancer. Tell me, it must be so hard dancing with all of that flab bouncing around..."

Meggie didn't hear anymore: she pushed past them, head ducked down low to hide the fact that she had tears in her eyes. Pepper, meanwhile, stared at the other girls with hatred. "That is so...so..."

"You're fine," Tammy muttered approvingly, nodding at the tall girl. "Just make sure you don't end up like her."

Pepper glared at them before doing something she wouldn't have dared do in front of her father - she stuck her middle finger up at them and stalked past them, head held high so that she could search for her friend.

**Okay, so I'm going to give you a warning for the next chapter: body issues, beginning of EDs...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not read it if it will trigger you in anyway or anything like that! I do NOT want any of you to be ill, or for my story to worsen it!**


	4. Come See About Me

**Warnings for this chapter: mentions of weight issues**

**Chapter**** 4**

And the snowball just kept rolling.

It was obvious to Kurt and Blaine that their daughter was deeply unhappy - with what, they didn't know. Every time they tried to talk to her all they could gather from the conversation was that she couldn't wait for it to end - and when it didn't end soon, she'd storm off upstairs to her room and not come down until dinner.

"You don't think this is possible because of...you know...the weight issue?" Kurt half-whispered to Blaine, so that neither of the children would hear if they walked past the kitchen. "She's always been rather touchy about that, and it wouldn't surprise me if being on that Cheer Squad hasn't helped one bit."

"We can't just blame the cheerleading though," Blaine tried to reason. "I mean, why wouldn't she be happy about getting accepted on the team? Hell, it's probably the best thing that could happen to her, considering how much of a popularity booster it is."

The taller man sighed and shook his head. "That's not really what I meant, honey: cheerleaders have a pressure to be...you know..._skinny._ I remember being on the Cheerios in my sophomore year-"

"Oh, why couldn't I have been there that year?" Blaine muttered, grinning to himself.

Kurt smiled, cheeks going pink. "Yes, well... Sue was tough if nothing else: she told Mercedes to drop ten pounds in one _week_. And just look at some of the cheerleaders who were on the Cheerios: Santana was as skinny as a stick, I swear, and most of them drank a master-cleanser mixture to get them to barf."

"Meggie is a smart girl," The shorter man stated, although he looked rather worried himself. "She isn't stupid enough to succumb to peer pressure or anything: she's stubborn, you know, and if she doesn't want to do something then she won't do it. Still, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on her."

As for Meggie...well, what had once been a feeling of happiness at being accepted somewhere had shortly turned into embarrassment: she had become a lot more self-conscious since Tammy's comments after the try-outs, and was now trying her hardest to shed a few extra pounds so that she'd look perfect on the team.

"_That_ is not lunch," Thomas said disapprovingly one day, eying her tiny helping of pasta and lettuce. "Megs, that's not even half of a plate."

"It's none of your business, that's what," Meggie shot at him darkly, using her fork to spread the food around the plate instead of eating it. "Look Tom, just stay out of it: you can't stop me from doing things."

Of course, with less food came more exhaustion: she'd find herself falling deeper into a sleep as the school day went on, stomach growling at her for eating such a measly amount and limbs aching from the constant exercise that cheerleading and trying to keep fit demanded.

It was one afternoon in a music class that she actually succumbed to her tiredness; it wasn't until roughly ten minutes when the class had been given an assignment to do that she was woken up - and by the most unlikely person.

"Mmm...what? 'm awake," Meggie mumbled, yawning and sitting up.

She was shocked to see a head of bright blonde hair in front of her; the other girl had brown eyes, a few shades darker than the hazel Meggie had inherited from her father, and was looking rather nervous.

"Cassie?" Meggie exclaimed, shocked. "What are you...I mean..."

Pepper appeared next to Cassie and sent them both smiles. "The teacher told us that we need to sing a song in groups - a fun way to get the year started apparently," She announced, grinning. "I saw that this girl - sorry, I don't know your name - was all on her own, so I invited her to come and work with us. Is that okay with you?"

"I...uhm..." Meggie gave a tiny nod. "I guess so."

"Yay!" Pepper cheered, rather like an overexcited five year old. "I'll go and find some music - I'll be back in a minute!"

Cassie gave a sheepish smile as the tall girl bounced away, looking somewhat apologetic. "It's been...a long time since we last spoke."

"Yes," Meggie replied coolly. "I think the last time was when I tried to scratch your cheek off."

The blonde flushed bright red. "Yes, well... I think I rather deserved it to be honest, seeing as I treated you terribly." She gave a small sigh and perched on the edge of the desk. "Look, I can say I'm sorry a hundred times and I know it won't make a difference - I really do feel horrible for the way I acted back then... It wasn't fair at all, and I regret all my stupid decisions now."

Now, although Meggie had hated this girl when she was younger (after all, bullying was not to be taken lightly and she was not to let others walk all over her), she was quite forgiving; besides, the two had been under the age of ten when all of that gone on, for crying out loud, so it was quite plausible to assume that they were both old enough to say that they were mature now and put it behind them.

"I know," She agreed and Cassie brightened up. "Let's forget about it though; we'll start afresh now and put all the bad stuff behind us."

* * *

Mr Garretts was _exhausted_ - out of the five classes he had taught that day at the school, only one of them had bothered to shut up and actually do the work he had asked, and that was a small group of seniors who were extremely dedicated. The others had ranged from just being annoying to being horrible enough for him to actually want to scratch his own eyes out.

"Tough day?" He heard Mr Ryans chortle, and a mug of coffee was soon pressed into the taller man's hands. "It's rather difficult to get teenagers to listen nowadays... Thank God I only had two classes today."

"Lucky you," Garretts muttered dryly, taking a gulp of coffee.

Ryans chuckled. "Come on; I told Marie we'd meet her in her classroom - she's just taught a music class and she texted to let me know that she needs to video a few of the groups who did particularly well."

The taller man brightened up at this; music was something he rather enjoyed, especially coming from creative students...something the school didn't appear to have a lot of, apparently.

In the music department, it was pretty much empty - all of the students had gone home by this point, clearly seeing no point in staying around what they now deemed a 'pointless waste of time', so it was no problem for the two men to navigate their way to the classroom they needed to go to. Inside, electric keyboards were stacked against a wall, turned off and not plugged in, with sheet music arranged neatly on the table nearby.

Marie Williams smiled at them apologetically when she saw them. "I'm sorry, but I just...this group were really good, and you know how hard it is to come by actual nice work nowadays."

Garretts waved a hand at her and shook his head. "It's fine; in fact, we're rather interested in seeing what the group's got to offer."

Ryans and Garretts both looked around the room for said students: three girls were grouped together, hovering around a piano nervously, while a boy with brown hair just smiled at them and shook his head bemusedly. "It's gonna be fine," He muttered, nudging a short girl with dark hair so that she looked at him.

"Alright, let's get this done!" Marie called, and the girls suddenly scattered nervously to stand in a triangle formation; the short dark-haired girl stood forwards in the middle, her two friends on either side. "Okay, so when I turn on the camera, you need to say your names before you start."

"But who's going to play the music?" One of the taller girls asked, puzzled.

The teacher looked at Garretts and Ryans, raising an eyebrow. "I'll do it," Garretts volunteered, stepping forwards: piano wasn't his best instrument, but he could play well enough for a small video.

_Come See About Me_ was scrawled across the top, and he grinned: he knew this song like the back of his hand.

"Alright...and go!"

The short dark-haired girl gave a nervous smile. "Meggie."

"Pepper," The other dark-haired girl - the tall one - chimed brightly.

"Cassie," The blonde chirped, also looking somewhat anxious.

Garretts took this as his cue to start playing - and he was surprised to see from behind the piano that the girls had started _dancing_ to the tune, shaking their hips rhythmically. If this was going the way he thought it was going, then he could tell he was going to be pleasantly surprised.

Right on time, the first girl - Meggie - grinned confidently, staring the camera straight down as she began to sing.

_I've been crying'_

_Oh, oh!_ The two other girls sang, putting on bright smiles to try and appear as professional as their friend.

_Cause I'm lonely (For you)_  
_Smiles have all turned (To tears)_  
_But tears won't wash away the fears (Oh oh)_

_That you're never ever gonna return (Eh eh eh eh eh)_  
_To ease the fire that within me burns (Eh eh eh eh eh)_

_It keeps me (Crying baby for you)_  
_Keeps me (Sighin' baby for you)_

_So won't you hurry?_  
_Come on boy, see about me (Come see about me)_  
_See about you baby (Come see about me)_

And suddenly they had managed to switch positions: the girl who had been on lead vocals swapped places with the blonde, who eagerly hurried to continue the song.

_I've given up my friends just (For you)_  
_My friends are gone and you (Have too)_  
_No peace shall I find (Oh oh)_  
_Until you come back And be mine (Oh oh)_  
_No matter what you do or say (Eh eh eh eh eh)_  
_I'm gonna love you anyway (Eh eh eh eh eh)_

_Keep on (Crying baby for you)_  
_I'm gonna keep (Sighin' baby for you)_

_So come on hurry_  
_Come on and see about me (Come see about me)_  
_See about you baby (Come see about me)_

And then Meggie and the blonde - Cassie - were both on lead vocals, sharing the lines.

_Sometime's up_, Meggie sang as Pepper and Cassie sung an "Oh, Oh"  
_Sometime's_ down, Cassie continued as the other two gave a, "Down,_ Oh oh_"  
_My life's so uncertain (Oh oh)_  
_With you not around (Oh oh)_  
_From my arms you maybe out of reach (Eh eh eh eh eh)_  
_But my heart says you're here to keep (Eh eh eh eh eh)_

_Keeps me (Crying baby for you)_  
_Keep on, keep on (Crying baby for you)_

So_ won't you hurry, _Meggie stepped forwards, dancing around in a rather majestic way that Garretts couldn't help but be quite shocked at - he'd never seen a student dance quite like that before.  
_Come on boy, see about me (Come see about me)_  
_See about you baby (Come see about me)_  
_You know I'm so lonely (Come see about me)_  
_I love you only (Come see about me)_

_See about me_, Cassie sang.

_See about your baby, _The shorter girl beamed.

Pepper stood forwards, singing for a short time in a somewhat unsure voice:

_You know I'm so lonely (Come see about me)_

_I love you only_, Meggie continued, taking centre stage once again to finish the song.  
_Come see about me_  
_Oh!_

And suddenly it was all over; out of respect the three teachers clapped before the camera was turned off, and as Garretts moved out from behind the piano he couldn't help but catch his male co-worker's eye.

"Well?" He asked quietly, raising an eyebrow in question. "Were you thinking what I was thinking?"

Ryans gave a small nod. "It would appear so; the three of them are rather skilled performers by the looks of it."

Garretts watched the three girls as they gushed excitedly over their performance with their male friend and Marie went to upload the video onto a hard-drive. "The last time this school had a Glee Club was fifteen years ago," He stated. "I've tried to bring it back but none of the students so far have bothered to come to auditions or anything."

"And with students like that," Ryans agreed, catching on quickly. "There's no limit as to how well this school could do in a show choir competition."

* * *

Of course Kurt and Blaine had been quite pleased to hear that their daughter was already making a name for herself as a theatrical-based student (after al, with her genes it was pretty certain she'd end up liking performing arts in some way): no, they loved to hear about her day.

What they didn't like was that she was talking so much that she wasn't eating - and they were both sure it wasn't accidental either.

"Do you not like the pasta salad I made?" Kurt asked lightly, eying her hardly touched plate. "I thought you liked it: I even put the chicken and peppers that you like in it."

Meggie's smile faded slowly. "Of course not, Dad," She answered stiffly. "I...I just ate a lot at school, that's all."

Liam gave a snort. "Yeah, if two forkfuls of salad and diet soda is a lot."

She gave him a stern glare. "I had more than that! I...I had a large breakfast this morning! A-And I had a bit of the biscuit that Pepper baked in Home Economics!"

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other worriedly - they both knew that this was an obvious lie. The thought of their kids suffering from things happened at school or due to feelings inside of them made both of the men cautious about what to do; if they charged straight in then it could potentially be an argument. If they did nothing, however, the problems could get worse.

"She's doing it," Kurt hissed once the children had gone and left their parents to clean up the dishes. "I told you, Blaine, I told you about the pressures of cheerleading being too much and now look at her: she's trying to lose weight by not eating!"

"Keep your voice down, Kurt," Blaine warned, gesturing to the open kitchen door. "If she hears it might upset her."

"Her?! What about me?!" The taller man seethed. "She's...she's not doing the right thing!"

Blaine sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I know. But the thing is, we can't take her out of the cheer team - not after she was so worried about not getting onto it in the first place. Besides, the exercise will perhaps do her some good: maybe the constant training will make her feel less worried about what she's eating."

"So we're meant to sit here and wait like idiots?" Kurt questioned, outraged by the idea. "What if this become serious, Blaine? I mean, now she's just restricting food a little bit, but the way she's going she's going to get _ill_! She's going to...to..."

His husband shook his head firmly. "No. We won't let that happen: this will probably blow over soon, Kurt. _But_ if it doesn't," He added hurriedly at the look on Kurt's face. "Then we'll do something, I promise."

**Heyo! :D Or, as the great Madison Montgomery would say: "Surprise, bitches. Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me". XD**

**Hope you're enjoying this story so far: I'm actually having quite a blast writing it! It's just with school and homework and issues and families and other stories...you lose track of time.**

**Please drop a review or something!**


	5. Some Great and Some Not News

**Warnings for this chapter: **

**Chapter Five**

Drama had quickly become one of Meggie's favourite subject at the school; it was definitely one of the most creative she had to learn, and even Thomas enjoyed it to some degree - an impressive feat, considering how sardonic he was about everything and everyone in the school.

"How do you do that?" Thomas asked a few days after the recording of 'Come See About Me', giving her an odd look. When she just looked at him, somewhat confused, he elaborated with, "When you do performances you make it seem real."

"Well, I guess I just grew up with it, what with my Dads both being performance based," Meggie said modestly, going bright pink. "Besides, you're not to bad yourself."

Thomas smiled weakly when she gave him a wink and wandered away to talk to Pepper; there were suddenly butterflies fluttering in the pit of his stomach, and he had absolutely no idea why they had appeared. Maybe he was coming down with something - he hoped not, since that would mean missing out on the lessons he actually liked later that week.

But he didn't actually feel _sick_; just light-head and...and his stomach was feeling all weird, like his insides were doing somersaults in his stomach. It was definitely a strange feeling, and he could only wish that he knew what it was.

_Hmm...that's happening a lot lately..._ He refused to even admit, even in his head, that it was when he was around Meggie.

"Alright!" Mr Garretts called to the class, clapping his hands and giving them all a charismatic grin. "Great job today, guys; remember that your homework is to research at least one play and the issues in it!" As the class started to chat and collected their bags, he cleared his throat as he singled out the people he wanted. "Meggie, Pepper, Cassie - a word?"

The three teenagers looked at each other, worried looks on their faces as they waited for the rest of the class to leave. After a minute, Thomas and Brodie were the only other students left as they waited for their friends.

Garretts raised an eyebrow at the two boys. "Could you two wait outside for a moment?"

Thomas frowned and opened his mouth to protest; however, Brodie nodded and started to push him out of the classroom door quickly before an argument could start. "We'll see you girls later," He muttered, giving them encouraging smiles that clearly said, _Good Luck_.

The door shut just as Thomas' voice piped up, arguing loudly at being pushed out of the classroom, and Garretts turned to the three teenage girls; for a moment he just eyed them up, as if considering something, and gave a small nod to himself.

Meggie cleared her throat, shifting on the spot uncomfortably. "Uhmm...sir? Why do we need to-"

"I saw you three performing a few days ago for a music class," Garretts interrupted conversationally. "You were singing and dancing, yes?" They all nodded, too nervous to say anything. "Tell me, do you like singing and dancing?"

It was quite an odd question, so they nodded to each other - none of them wanted to be the first to say anything, and they were all desperate for one of the others to say something. Finally, Meggie gave a tiny nod. "Yes, I do."

"I like dancing," Pepper added quietly. "But I'm not so great at singing - I like it though."

"I like both of them too," Cassie admitted. "I don't do it often, though, but I think it's fun."

Mr Garretts grinned. "You don't know how happy that makes me!" They all gave him odd looks, clearly finding this to be quite weird; he hurried on. "Do you guys know what a Glee Club is?"

"Oh, yeah!" Meggie answered happily, it dawning on her quite quickly. "My parents were both in Glee Club when they went to High School."

Pepper and Cassie just shrugged; clearly neither of them knew anything else besides what their friend had said.

"Well, this school hasn't had a Glee Club for fifteen years now," The teacher continued, leaning against his desk and eying three girls up hopefully. "I've tried and tried to get one on its feet but so far...nothing's come of it. However, I saw you three performing for Miss Williams and...well..." He smiled. "How would you girls feel about helping me start a Glee Club?"

* * *

"Dude!" Thomas protested, glaring at the other teenager icily. "What was that about? Just pushing me out like that-"

"Oh, shut up," Brodie interrupted, completely unfazed. "He just wanted to talk to them alone; maybe he didn't want us overhearing because it's something bad."

Thomas raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing this. "When Meggie's concerned, it's never bad."

The British teenager suddenly grinned, eyes lighting up and dancing brightly. "Oh my God, Pepper was right... Great, now I owe her ten bucks."

"Right about what?"

Brodie just shook his head knowingly. "I think you know what I'm talking about."

Thomas glared at him, voice coming out dry and sarcastic. "Well I obviously don't: are you gonna tell me or not?"

Before Brodie could answer, the door opened again and their three female friends walked out; they looked quite flushed for some reason, and they were all sporting huge, disbelieved smiles.

"So?" Thomas asked, immediately standing next to Meggie and looking at her questionably. "What did he want?"

She smiled up at him, looking quite awed. "He...He saw us perform the other day, and now...now..."

"He's starting a Glee Club," Pepper continued, also looking quite amazed. "It'll be the first one in fifteen years and-"

"And he wants us to help him start it," Cassie finished quietly, eyes wide. "We'd be the first three members - we don't need to audition because he's seen us already - and we need to help recruit other people."

Brodie grinned his boyish grin and wrapped his arm around Meggie as they strolled down the corridor; to Thomas' disbelief, her smile only widened when she realized what he was doing. "That's fantastic!" He said charmingly. "I'm really proud of you - of all of you."

And suddenly something was burning in Thomas' chest - something hot and dark and just..._angry_. It roared, making his blood beat faster and his head race; his fists were clenching, eyes glaring at the other teenager.

_Hold on...why am I angry?_

It finally hit him what the earlier feeling in his stomach had been; the reason his stomach fluttered around Meggie all of the time was because...because he_ liked _her. And it wasn't 'like' as in a friendly way... No. It was 'like' as in 'like-_like_'...

_No. Don't be stupid,_ He scolded himself fiercely. _You are friends and that is it; it's probably some kind of protective thing...I mean, we're so close and everything...maybe it's a brotherly kind of protective feeling._

But then he saw how Meggie was laughing with Brodie, how at ease she was with him; it had been obvious for years now that she had a crush on him from Day One, and the only person who seemed unaware of it was Brodie himself._ What a lucky bastard he is_, Thomas secretly thought spitefully - and then he felt horrified about thinking that, considering that Brodie was his friend too.

"Hey, Tom? You coming?" He heard Pepper's voice call brightly. Thomas nodded slowly, walking behind his friends as they continued to laugh and celebrate excitedly while he continued to think.

He was certain that if he _did_ see Meggie like a sister then he wouldn't have been jealous of the thought of Brodie dating her.

* * *

"I told you it would blow over, Kurt."

Kurt sent his husband a small glare. "Okay, fine; she ate her dinner _tonight_. But these things don't just disappear - she's obviously had an okay day at school, probably a great one, and so she's not too worried about her weight. It's not the end of it."

"Geesh, you've got to be so negative," Blaine muttered, shaking his head. "Kurt, we can't stalk her around and see what she eats in an entire day, you know. Just relax and see how it goes; maybe the whole body issue thing was just temporary."

"Well, maybe the whole not being upset by it is temporary," Kurt shot back. "What are we meant to do? Just sit here and watch? Let her get ill?"

Blaine sighed, leaning against the kitchen countertop and biting his lip. "Of course not. Look, it's not easy for _her_ or _us_ but we need to try and stay strong for her; to have courage. If something _is_ bothering her then she'll come and see us in her own time."

The countertenor slumped on the spot, looking extremely defeated all of a sudden. "It's not just Meggie, though; Liam keeps getting into fights and no matter how many times he gets excluded, or we punish him, he just keeps on doing it. I know my Dad keeps saying that it's just a phase, 'boys being boys' - but most boys his age don't fight as much as he does."

"I know," Blaine admitted, nodding his head. "The Principal phoned me the other day - if Liam keeps getting into fights and that kind of thing, then the school will be forced to expel him."

"But that's...ridiculous!" Kurt argued, suddenly angry. "He's intelligent, he always does his homework-"

"But he's hurting other students," The shorter man said quietly. "I wasn't too pleased either, but we've got to admit, Kurt: if a kid was doing this to Liam, we'd want that kid expelled. The Principal kind of has a point."

"A point?! But...he..."

He shook his head firmly. "As much as I hate to say it, hun, if he does something wrong he _should_ be punished for it... It's only right that he's treated like any other kid at school, I suppose."

Blaine stopped talking only when he realized that Kurt was holding back tears, a rather stony look on his face.

"Kurt?" He asked softly, putting a hand on his husband's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Kurt blinked, shaking his head to himself. "Look at us, Blaine; our daughter hates herself and our son is kicking the crap out of the other kids in his school." He sighed loudly. "We've _failed_ at being parents - we've let the two of them down."

"No," Blaine disagreed firmly, putting a comforting hand in his husband's. "No, Kurt, we haven't. They're just...they're getting older and...and these kinds of things happen. It doesn't mean we failed or anything."

The taller man continued to look doubtful. "Really? Because I certainly don't remember starving myself or beating up the other kids when I was their age."

"It _will_ get better," The dark-haired man promised, squeezing his husband's shoulder and trying to give him a cheerful smile - it was rather forced though and looked more like a grimace. "And even if it doesn't... Well, we care too much to let them get into too much trouble."

Kurt just gave him an unsure look.

"We're doing fine," Blaine assured him. "Come on; I need help writing a new song to sing on Saturday night... And, as my muse, I need you with me."

* * *

Annie frowned at Nick disapprovingly. "Hey, you promised that you wouldn't."

"I'm not," Nick muttered, laughing. "I'm only joking around..."

"Good," Annie said primly as he put the lighter into his trouser pocket. "Because if you _do_ ever smoke, then I won't be hanging around you anymore."

Liam rolled his eyes slightly as he looked at his male best friend. "Where the heck did you even get that lighter from, anyway? Unless you really _are _smoking..."

"At eleven?!" Nick snorted. "Yeah, I don't think so." He grinned at the other two. "As I've said before, my Mom and Dad both smoke, so I just stole one of their lighters...just to play around with, of course." He pulled the lighter out again and flicked it; a flame appeared, flickering the cool autumn air. "It's cool, using a lighter and all that."

"Put it out," Annie hissed half-heartedly, staring at the flame in horror. "If the teachers catch you with it then all _three_ of us will be in trouble."

Liam's smile vanished when he realized that she was correct. "Uhh...Nick. Maybe she's got a point... I mean, I've only just been let back into school and everything, after breaking that guy's nose-"

"Which was awesome," Nick interjected, grinning boyishly.

The brunette boy ignored this. "You know that the school will freak out if they find out you brought a lighter into school; all that 'dangerous objects' stuff that they tell us not to do." He gave a cough, not wanting to look like a complete sissy in front of his friends. "Look, it _is_ cool but me and Annie will both be dragged into it; and you know that my dads will kill me if I get in trouble again."

He didn't bother saying what Annie's parents - the two strictest people he knew - would do.

Nick's grin disappeared as he gave a nod and but the object away again. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Liam really hated having to be the 'sensible' one (which he rarely was though) of the three, especially since it seemed to ruin his friends' good moods at the worst of times. That was why he blurted out, "How about you come round mine after school? You can show me it then."

Annie pursed her lips, clearly disapproving of such an idea. Nick, however, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Thanks, dude!"

His dads wouldn't approve of course - but who said that he had to tell them?

**Grr...Sorry for slow updates: I have a French speaking next Tuesday but then I'm mostly free! :D**

**And, yeah, Liam's a bit of a bad-boy..well, kind of a wannabe-badboy but still...**

**Please drop a review!**


	6. Up in Flames

**Warnings for this chapter: references to masturbation between teenagers, references to depression/self-harm, language**

**Chapter Six**

_I do not have a crush on her. Repeat. I do NOT have a crush on her. I do not have-_

"Hello? Earth to Thomas?"

Thomas hurriedly snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Meggie. "Yeah, sorry... Just thinking about that Math homework and stuff."

"I already told you that I'd help you with it," Meggie laughed, shaking her head at him. "Lucky for you, Algebra isn't too difficult for me; shapes are just weird and difficult, but Algebra...piece of cake."

_Of course she'd find Algebra easy. She's always been so clever; kinda like Hermione Granger._

Thomas nodded, half-amused by his own musings on his friend. "Right, yeah. Okay then."

She gave him a look. "Are you okay? I thought you wanted to walk home this way."

"I do," He agreed quickly. "Sorry. Just got a lot on my mind." He didn't bother mentioning that he'd only agreed to walk home so that he could look at her - he wasn't too comfortable with acknowledging that this was an actual thought in his mind.

"I know what you mean," Meggie sighed, looking down at the sidewalk wistfully. "High School's so...different. I'm not sure I like it really."

He shrugged. "I guess. To be honest, I'm just glad that a lot of the assholes at our Middle School went somewhere else - although, having said that, there's a lot of new assholes at this place too."

Meggie sent him a worried look. "Hey, no negative thoughts! We had an agreement that you wouldn't be so angry and bitter all the time; it doesn't help with your..." She trailed off, gesturing to his arms uselessly. "Your problem."

"Go on, say it," Thomas muttered indifferently. They were on their own, so they didn't have to worry about someone overhearing their conversation. "It's my self-harming; the cutting."

"You promised you were going to stop," She stated. "You promised _me_."

"Like I haven't tried!" He snorted. "Megs, it's not as easy as, 'Oh, I'm gonna stop now. I'm all better'. I've _tried_ but...but it's not easy." He rubbed at his arms self-consciously. "The longest I've gone is a week and a half...but then this feeling kicks in. The feeling of feeling numb and empty and just..._hating_ myself."

When he stopped, he realized that Meggie had tears in her eyes.

"Why do you hate yourself?" She asked quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Why? Come on, tell me."

Thomas opened his mouth before hurriedly shutting it again. "It's complicated, Meggie - you wouldn't understand."

Suddenly, Meggie's eyes had narrowed and she was glaring at him angrily. "_Wouldn't_ understand?! Of course I would, you dumbass! I hate myself as well - and don't start arguing," She snapped. "I hate myself, and that's the end of that. But _you_...why should you hate yourself?"

If only she understood - he himself didn't quite understand. He just...felt that way.

"I'm useless," He finally said quietly. "I'm not smart or anything...and, let's face it, I've been a shitty person to not only you but other people too."

"You were five," Meggie disagreed seriously, and Thomas couldn't believe that she was actually _defending_ what he had done to her. "You were a little kid just wanting to fit in - manipulated by your Mom, right? I did a load of stuff when I was little that I really wish I hadn't, but there's nothing I can do about that now." She sighed, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I really don't want to argue or keep bringing this up; you're my best friend and it just... I don't like seeing you so unhappy all the time."

_Oh fuck, she looks close to crying._

"I never meant to make you upset," Thomas muttered hurriedly. "Don't start crying on me: I'll stop with the depressing shit, alright? I promise!"

She shook her head. "I'm fine," She muttered weakly, giving him a serious look. "But please...please keep _trying_ to get better." Meggie hesitated for a moment, not quite sure whether she should say it. "Maybe you should see someone: like a counsellor or something-"

"No fucking way," Thomas interrupted fiercely. "I'm not going to some Doctor so they can label me as a 'freak' and shove pills down my throat."

Meggie sighed. "Fine, fine. But _please_ try - for me?"

"For you," He agreed, unaware of the words slipping from his mouth. After he said that, he gave her a tiny smile and linked their arms. "Come on. I need a coffee or something before I attempt that homework. Care to join me?"

* * *

Liam _did_ sort of feel bad about sneaking Nick into his house just so that he could see his friend play with the lighter - and knowing his luck, something would probably go wrong. But he desperately wanted to see cool in front of his friend, to not be stuck in the situation that his sister was where she hated herself and refused to talk to people.

"My dads aren't home yet," Liam muttered to Nick, shutting the door behind him. "Not sure about my sister though... MEGGIE!"

There was no reply.

"Wait..." He muttered, taking a deep breath before yelling again. "MEGGIE! I was the one who stole your magazine - and I did it so that I could jerk off to the girls in it." When there was still no reply, he grinned. "Great. She must be out with Thomas."

Nick laughed, raising a brow at his friend. "You stole her magazine to...to 'jerk off' to it?"

Liam flushed a violent shade of red. "No...well...I didn't... I liked looking at the models."

"Hey, it's cool!" Nick assured him, throwing himself down on the couch lazily - he'd been to the house so many times now that he could have navigated it with his eyes shut. "Tons of guys do it - it's better than having blue balls."

Honestly, Liam didn't quite know how to respond to that: of course he had tried it a few times, but he felt somewhat...off about it. He knew it would have been far wiser - though more embarrassing - to just ask one of his Dads about it than going on the internet and searching these problems on Google, but there was no way he was letting his parents know that he was having _those_ kind of thoughts.

"Anyway," Nick's voice exclaimed, interrupting his thought process. "Do you wanna see what I can do with that lighter? Maybe I could teach you a few tricks?"

Liam, not knowing how much time he had until someone got home, nodded hurriedly - he just prayed that no one would know.

* * *

Since both of their children could now get to school and back safely on their own, Kurt and Blaine had become accustomed to walking home together from work and talking about their day - a topic that mostly revolved around who was doing the dishes, the kids, and the typical day-to-day life.

"The poor boy," Blaine muttered as he listened to Kurt talk about their son's problem. "I remember when I started getting those kind of dreams... Weird to think of him going through that though."

"Yes, well, don't mention to it to him," Kurt warned, linking his hand with his husband's as they walked through a pile of leaves on the sidewalk. "He probably knows already, what with me cleaning his room and having to put new sheets on the bed every other day, but let's not scar him any further than we need to just yet."

The shorter man sighed. "I can't believe how grown up they're both getting now: Meggie in High School, Liam starting to become a young man... It seems like only yesterday we were having to change diapers and sing them lullabies."

"The diapers I don't miss," Kurt muttered, a small grin flickering across his face. "However, they don't go to sleep as early as they used to: I know I shouldn't say this, but-"

"But you miss having enough time 'to ourselves'," Blaine finished, smirking to himself. "Yeah - every time it gets good I hear one of them laugh or something and then I remember... 'Shit, we can't let them know''."

The taller man gave a small laugh. "Can't them know what? That adults who are happily married have regular sex after they hit thirty five? To be honest, it's their own fault for not going to sleep when we tell them - we're giving them a warning."

Blaine chuckled, quite amused by their conversation. "Who'd have thought, Kurt, that we'd be married with two kids and living in New York...and discussing our kids being annoying for not letting us have a good sex life?"

"And to think," Kurt snorted. "It's meant to be _us_ intruding on _their _sex lives now. Typical."

By now they were nearing their home - it was just the road, and Blaine was already going through his pockets to look for his door keys. "No doubt Liam and Meggie have both got headphones on," He muttered.

However, the two halted when they turned the corner and saw the scene.

"Blaine?!" Kurt exclaimed, even though his husband was only next to him. "Why are there fire engines outside of our house?!"

Blaine's eyes widened. "I have no idea...the kids... Hey!" He yelled to a nearby fireman, who turned hurriedly to look at him. "What the Hell's going on?"

"We got a call," The fireman informed him. "It was about five minutes ago - a young boy or something, saying that they'd set fire to a curtain...they called us immediately."

_Liam. Oh no._

Kurt suddenly appeared beside him, looking frantic and worried. "Are they still in there? Do you know where our daughter is?"

"Dad! Papa!"

_Well, that answers that question_.

Blaine immediately wrapped his arms around Meggie tightly, so glad to see her safe. "Jesus... Did you see what happened?"

Meggie shook her head as she pulled away, looking absolutely terrified. "I went out for coffee with Tom, and when we came back there was a fire and fire engines... Where's Liam?" She looked around, panicking now. "I _knew_ I should have gone straight home... I'm _so_ sorry..."

"It's not your fault," Kurt assured her, pressing a kiss against her forehead - but his eyes still scanned the area, looking for their other child. "Blaine, what if he went home with a friend and something happened?"

"They're going to be f-fine, Kurt," Blaine managed, although his voice was weak as they waited.

A minute later, a few firemen came rushing out; they were heaving out two young boys, one of whom had a head full of brunette hair extremely similar to Kurt's and the other with blonde curls.

"Oh God," Meggie whimpered, rushing forwards to get closer to her brother. "Liam! You absolute idiot! You scared the shit out of me!"

Liam shakily stood up, pulling away from the firemen at the same time as Nick did. His face was covered in black soot, and his clothes were slightly singed. "Geesh, thanks. So much for 'I love you'..."

She threw her arms around him, a tear rolling down her cheeks involuntarily. "You could have died, you...you..."

Meggie didn't get to finish her sentence as Kurt and Blaine came rushing up at that moment, wrapping their arms around their now complete family. Liam tried to pull away, wriggling in their grasps. "Guys, I'm fine. Look, there's nothing wrong with me."

Kurt was the first to pull away, and he frowned at his son. "How in the name of GaGa did you set a curtain on fire, Liam James Hummel-Anderson?"

The brunette boy looked at Nick for help, suddenly scared witless - his father had a habit of doing that to people. "Well," Nick started slowly. "We were just hanging out, you know, and...and..." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Mister Hummel-Anderson - both of you. I had a lighter on me and I was kind of showing off at school today. Our friend Annie got freaked, so Liam said I could show him here."

Kurt and Blaine both eyed Liam, neither of them looking too pleased.

"I was trying to teach him a trick when the flame caught on a curtain," Nick finished apologetically. "It's not his fault, really: I was the one with the lighter, not him."

Meggie looked between Nick and her brother, completely shocked; and then she was suddenly flying at Liam, her fists pounding against him weakly. "You absolute... You're such a retard!"

"Meggie, what have we told you about using that word?" Blaine scolded half-heartedly, not really into it.

The teenage girl just continued to seethe, pulling back and glaring at him. "You almost _died_ because you're so stupid!"

"Alright, Meggie," Kurt interrupted sternly, grabbing his daughter by the shoulders and manoeuvring her away from his son. "It's not your job to punish him - leave that to us two. And violence is not acceptable, Megs, and neither is the 'r' word."

She just grumbled something under her breath before storming away, clearly still outraged.

"Nick, we're going to have to call your parents to let them know," Kurt said, turning to his son's friend; Nick winced when he didn't smile. "However, I think that Blaine and I will have to have a talk with you later on, Liam," He continued, sending his son a tiny glare. "About why we don't allow lighters or matches in our home when _we_'re not here."

As the two men stalked away to check the damage, Nick sent Liam an apologetic look. "Tell them it was my fault," He insisted. "I was the one who lit the curtain on fire-"

"I was the one who let you in the house knowing what you could do with it," Liam interrupted, suddenly looking pale and exhausted. "Look, let's just leave it: I'll see you at school tomorrow."

**OOhh.. :) Still setting up major storylines...it takes a while...**

**Also, excuse any typos or what have you because I'm utterly SHATTERED right now...oh God, a bed sounds nice...**

**Reviews please!**


	7. Destruction

**Warnings for this chapter: **

**Chapter Seven**

"I can't believe that you would be so stupid, Liam!"

"We trust you with a key to the house, thinking that we could trust _you_ to look after yourself, and what do you do? You set the house on fire!"

Liam gave an annoyed sigh, arms folded and eyes glaring ahead at the wall. "Yeah, yeah. So you keep telling me."

Kurt stared at his son in horror. "Do you not know how serious this is? What if the house had burnt down, Liam?! We wouldn't have a home!"

"But I didn't burn the house down," The brunette pre-teen complained, rolling his eyes. "Geesh, I didn't even damage anything...well, besides half a curtain."

"Those were expensive curtains!"

Blaine put his hands on Kurt's shoulder, rubbing soothing circles into his collarbones. "Kurt, calm down. Look, leave this to me, alright?" With that in mind, he moved forwards, a stern look on his face as he studied their son. "It doesn't matter if it was half a curtain or half a house: you still set fire to something."

"Alright," Liam grumbled. "Fine. I'm sorry about your stupid furniture and the house."

Blaine sighed, shaking his head to himself. "It's not the furniture or the house-"

"Yes it is," Kurt disagreed.

The shorter man just continued on. "Liam, we were more worried about what might have happened to _you_: what if the fire had gotten worse, and you were trapped inside?" He shuddered, not even wanting to think about it. "You put yourself in danger: you nearly gave not only me and your Dad but your _sister_ a heart-attack while you were in here."

Liam snorted. "Yeah, well. Meggie would have a heart attack anyway, what with the amount of crap she eats and then tries to throw up again."

There was a short silence, these words hanging in the air as the two men took them in.

"We're not talking about that," Blaine finally said quietly. "We're not here to talk about Meggie - we're here to talk _to you_. Liam, just think for a moment: that fire could have injured you - _killed_ you even. And not only you; you had a friend over too! What if something had happened to him?"

Liam just shrugged.

"I don't even want to think about having to admit to his parents what had happened _if_ anything had gone wrong," Kurt snapped, losing control again. "The fact that you didn't even think about your friend's safety...and to think, your Papa and I trusted you to stay home on your own."

Liam gave a bitter laugh. "_Please._ Meggie, though not a great person, gets home three minutes after I do. I'm hardly on my own."

"Well, now you won't be left on your own at all," Blaine decided firmly, and his son's hash façade slipped. "From now on either one of us or one of your grandparents will be home after you finish school. And, just to add to your punishment, you're grounded for two weeks: none of your friends can come over and the only time you leave this house is for school."

The pre-teen looked mortified. "That's...unfair! I didn't even do anything!" He gave an angry and harsh sigh as he stood up, glaring between the two men with an icy look in his eyes. "You know what, just 'cause you two have been pushed around and beaten up for all your life it doesn't mean you can tell me what to do!"

"Yes we can," Kurt muttered, somewhat calmly. "We're your Dads."

Liam looked between them, eyes lingering on Blaine. "_You_'re not," He spat. "Not really. You're just _Blaine._ You're not my Dad - or my _Papa_, as you like me to call you - and you _never_ will be."

Kurt could immediately see the hurt look in his husband's eyes appear - how upset he was due to that comment. It ignited a fire inside of him again, to protect Blaine, similar to how he supposed wild animals protected their mates. "Go to your room _NOW_!" He snapped shrilly. When his son didn't move, he straightened up and glared down at him. "Liam, if you don't then so help me, I swear I will bring your Grandpa Burt into this."

That was one way to make Liam Hummel-Anderson flinch, and flinch he did - even he knew an argument with Burt Hummel was the worst idea.

"Go, and don't come down until you're ready to apologize!" The tall man called to him angrily as the young boy retreated to his room. Once he had disappeared up the stairs, he turned to Blaine with a soft look on his face. "He didn't mean it. You know he didn't."

"Yeah, sure," Blaine mumbled, pulling away from Kurt. "I...I'm gonna head back to the restaurant now."

Kurt sent him a look. "But you don't have to be there for the show for another few hours yet - and we still haven't had dinner."

"I'll eat something there," The short man murmured, looking quite put-out and depressed as he grabbed his coat from the couch where he'd left it lying. "And...well, I could use the practice."

* * *

"You are such a little dick!"

Liam sent a cold glare to his older sister. "Shut up, Meggie."

She just continued to look disapprovingly at him. "How _dare_ you say that to Papa?! Were you dropped on your head?!"

"Oh, piss off," He growled. "No one asked _your_ opinion!"

"You are turning into such a little douche lately," Meggie hissed, folding her arms. "Setting fires, getting into fights... It's time you grew up."

And that was it. Liam really didn't care anymore.

"Grew up?!" He snarled, stepping forwards threateningly. "Grew up?! What?! So I can be like you are: a depressed, lonely little wreck who can't even get a boyfriend?!" When his sister fell silent at that, eyes wide, he continued. "God, Megs... And by the way, I found that book underneath your bed: the one you're writing down your weight in. Just face it, Meggie: you're _never_ going to be a popular, beautiful and skinny person. Get used to it."

With that Liam turned away, knowing deep down that he had been quite rude and harsh unnecessarily - but at that moment, he just wanted to hurt her...not for being angry at him, though. No; he _hated_ that she was so _perfect_ - at least, in her school work and things like that.

_"Meggie's predicted straight As."_

_"Meggie's doing a show next week with her dance troupe."_

_"She's so clever."_

_"Megs got on the cheer team."_

Honestly, he was sick and tired of hearing about Meggie. So he wasn't as smart as her and he didn't do shows with a troupe: for once he just wanted people to _listen_ to _him_ - and definitely not refer to him as "Meggie's younger brother" or "the other kid of the two gay guys".

He knew it was a pathetic reason, but that was really how all of this 'bad' stuff he'd started taking part in had happened: he wanted people to pay attention to _him,_ to notice _him_ for some other reason than being the youngest of two children with gay parents or the younger brother of a teacher's pet.

Why couldn't he just be, 'Liam'?

* * *

Thomas honestly looked forwards to getting to have a sleepover with his friends; sure, it was only once every month or so but...still, it was fun and one of his favourite parts of the weekend.

"Okay!" Pepper said brightly, giggling to herself as she curled up in her sleeping bag. "I think we should watch _Spiderman _next!"

"No way," Brodie disagreed. "_Batman_ is way better."

Thomas grinned to himself, looking down at his lap: it wasn't a sleepover without the usual Pepper-Brodie argument on which film or character was better, and he was more than happy to listen to it with amusement. However, when he looked up he spotted Meggie looking quite down, just staring at her own sleeping bag.

_It's odd,_ he thought, frowning to himself. _She hasn't said a word all night._

"...We are watching _The Amazing Spider-Man_ and that is the end of it!"

"You only want to watch it because of Andrew Garfield!"

Pepper huffed and folded her arms. "Fine. Tom; you never choose a film. Choose one."

He blinked, not used to being put on the spot like he was now. "Uhh..." He shrugged, still worried about Meggie somewhat. "I...Let's watch _Ratatouille_. There. Stop arguing and put it on."

Pepper and Brodie both pouted slightly but got up to search through the DVDs in Pepper's room. The fact that Pepper's dad even allowed her to have three friends - two of them boys, for that matter - stay the night at the same time was amazing to Thomas...then again, it wasn't like they were actually doing _anything_.

"Let's open up the popcorn-"

Meggie gave a gasp, cutting Pepper off completely. "I...uhmm..." She suddenly stood, suddenly looking very pale. "I need the bathroom."

"You know where it is," Pepper told her casually before grabbing the television remote. "Do you want us to wait for you?"

Meggie shook her head hurriedly. "No, I've seen it tons of times; besides, as long as I don't miss any Linguini parts then I'll be fine."

And then she was gone, practically racing out of the room. Thomas just frowned more to himself; he'd never seen her act like that in his life before and it puzzled him...She seemed guilty, for some reason, and actually _worried_. Any reason for her to be worried was alarming to Thomas, so he quickly stood up as well.

"I need the bathroom too," He lied instinctively when Pepper and Brodie looked up at him. "I'll go downstairs...start without me."

Brodie shrugged. "Your loss, dude."

Making sure to close the door behind him, Thomas started a fast pace down the hallway and towards the bathroom - whatever was up with Meggie, she probably wasn't actually using the bathroom for its required purpose. His theory was proven correct when he pushed his ear up against the wood of the door seconds later and heard nothing but heavy panting noises.

The doors in Pepper's house didn't lock properly, he knew that. He knew it would have been polite to knock, but if he knocked then Meggie might have hidden what she was really doing and then there might have been a fight...

So instead he just pushed the door open and looked at the sink where his friend was standing.

Meggie's eyes widened at the same time his did. "Tom..."

Thomas could only stare at her, eyes drawn to her left arm; from the wrist upwards she had some rather fresh looking slashes that didn't look too deep but still looked rather painful and self-inflicted. One was bleeding, the scab probably peeling away within the last few minutes, and Thomas could now see that the arm of Meggie's pyjama shirt had a blood stain on it.

"What the fuck?!" He whispered, voice hoarse.

Meggie flushed bright red. "I... Get out."

"What have you done, Meggie?!"

And suddenly she was flaring up at him. "Get the fuck out, Tom!"

"Not until you tell me what the Hell is going on!"

Meggie's eyes flickered to the doorframe. "Shut the door. Now." Thomas did so, giving her a pointed look as he waited for her to spill; when he faced her again, he was giving him a pointed glare. "How much did you see?"

"Oh, I dunno... Just your arm covered in cuts!" Thomas seethed, enraged and upset by the whole ordeal. "You've been cutting, Meggie: and all this time, you've been telling _me_ not to!" He folded his arms. "Why? Why the hell are you doing it?!"

His friend straightened up. "It's none of your business," She snapped half-heartedly. "And for your information, it was _you_ doing it that gave _me_ the idea of doing it!"

Thomas was absolutely stunned by this, not sure if she was serious. "_Me?!_ You're blaming it on me?!"

"No!" Meggie hissed, tears appearing in her eyes. "I just...Tom, I can't _cope_ anymore: I'm _sick_ of being treated like shit at school. I'm sick of that fucking bitch Tammy insulting my appearance every cheer practice, and I'm sick of hating myself!" She gave a small sigh. "It's just... You seem to cope by doing it. You said it helps, a-and so have other people...I've been on the internet, and people say that it's h-helping them..."

Thomas shook his head, anger disappearing immediately. "Meggie...when I said that it helps me cope, I didn't mean...I didn't want you doing it! I know that it's wrong but I can't help it... It's like an addiction, you know! Once you start, y-you don't stop!"

"I know," She murmured, looking down at her arm; a tear rolled off of her nose and onto the basin of the sink. "I know. You can't tell anyone - especially not Pepper and Brodie. They...They'll call me a freak if they find out." She seemed to curl in on herself suddenly, looking terrified. "And you can't tell my D-Dads or brother either."

Thomas hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder so that she'd look up at him. "Meggie," He said softly. "You haven't told anyone about me doing it; I think it's only right that I don't tell anyone about you doing it." He reached down and clasped one of her hands in one of his. "It'll be our secret."

Meggie gave a sniffle, holding back her tears. "You promise?"

Thomas nodded. "I promise."

He was many things, but a promise-breaker? No. Not even he broke promises.

**I'm publishing this chapter in aid of SIAD tomorrow (1st March wherever you are) - please raise awareness of Self-injury and break stereotypes... Wear something orange, write 'love' on your wrist, draw a butterfly to reference the 'butterfly project'...please, do whatever you can. **

**For those of you who don't know: Yes, I am a self-harmer and I am depressed. It's not easy to admit that, but if I hide it then it's not possible for others to come to me for help. This chapter was rather difficult to write for me on a deeply personal level, especially the last part, and I'd really appreciate it if no one left any flames such as "Self-harm is for losers" or "eww...only freaks do that" (but you're all nice, so...hopefully I'm worrying for nothing).**

**If any of you are struggling with SH or an eating disorder or ANYTHING please don't hesitate to contact me through tumblr or the PM service on her or SOMETHING. **

**On another note, another chapter finished! Hooray! :D I feel things are heating up, so... I'd like to clarify that this story is going to be somewhat similar to Glee in the sense that it will tackle a wide range of issues in today's society and help raise awareness of them.**

**Hope you girls and guys enjoyed!**


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